bull Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle
  2. noun a large and strong and heavyset man
    strapper; bruiser; Samson.
    • he was a bull of a man
    • a thick-skinned bruiser ready to give as good as he got
  3. noun obscene words for unacceptable behavior
    crap; horseshit; Irish bull; dogshit; bullshit; shit.
    • I put up with a lot of bullshit from that jerk
    • what he said was mostly bull
  4. noun a serious and ludicrous blunder
    • he made a bad bull of the assignment
  5. noun uncomplimentary terms for a policeman
    pig; cop; fuzz; copper.
  6. noun an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later
  7. noun (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Taurus
    Taurus.
  8. noun the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about April 20 to May 20
    Taurus the Bull; Taurus.
  9. noun the center of a target
    bull's eye.
  10. noun a formal proclamation issued by the pope (usually written in antiquated characters and sealed with a leaden bulla)
    papal bull.
  11. noun mature male of various mammals of which the female is called `cow'; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle
  12. verb push or force
    bull through.
    • He bulled through his demands
  13. verb try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying
  14. verb speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths
    fake; bullshit; talk through one's hat.
    • The politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it
  15. verb advance in price
    • stocks were bulling

WordNet

Bull noun
Etymology
OE. bule, bul, bole; akin to D. bul, G. bulle, Icel. boli, Lith. bullus, Lett. bollis, Russ. vol'; prob. fr. the root of AS. bellan, E. bellow.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The male of any species of cattle (Bovidæ); hence, the male of any large quadruped, as the elephant; also, the male of the whale. ✍ The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the oryx, a large species of antelope.
  2. One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or action. Ps. xxii. 12.
  3. (Astron.) (a) Taurus, the second of the twelve signs of the zodiac. (b) A constellation of the zodiac between Aries and Gemini. It contains the Pleiades.
    At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright Bull receives him. Thomson.
  4. (Stock Exchange) One who operates in expectation of a rise in the price of stocks, or in order to effect such a rise. See 4th Bear, n., 5.
Bull adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to a bull; resembling a bull; male; large; fierce.
Bull intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do. Colloq.
Bull transitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Stock Exchange) To endeavor to raise the market price of; as, to bull railroad bonds; to bull stocks; to bull Lake Shore; to endeavor to raise prices in; as, to bull the market. See 1st Bull, n., 4.
Bull noun
Etymology
OE. bulle, fr. L. bulla bubble, stud, knob, LL., a seal or stamp: cf. F. bulle. Cf. Bull a writing, Bowl a ball, Boil, v. i.
Definitions
  1. A seal. See Bulla.
  2. A letter, edict, or respect, of the pope, written in Gothic characters on rough parchment, sealed with a bulla, and dated "a die Incarnationis," i. e., "from the day of the Incarnation." See Apostolical brief, under Brief.
    A fresh bull of Leo's had declared how inflexible the court of Rome was in the point of abuses. Atterbury.
  3. A grotesque blunder in language; an apparent congruity, but real incongruity, of ideas, contained in a form of expression; so called, perhaps, from the apparent incongruity between the dictatorial nature of the pope's bulls and his professions of humility.
    And whereas the papist boasts himself to be a Roman Catholic, it is a mere contradiction, one of the pope's bulls, as if he should say universal particular; a Catholic schimatic. Milton.
    Syn. -- See Blunder.

Webster 1913